The Haunted Dorm Room

When I was in college (about a million years ago) I agreed to live in an old and rather unpleasant dormitory just so I could have a single room. In case you've never had the pleasure of living in a dorm, trust me when I say the goal is to always live without a roommate whenever possible. So in this situation, I was willing to tolerate a great deal just to live by myself. The dormitory itself was crowded, disgusting, full of druggies and alcoholics, had poor wiring, and it was haunted.

Yes, I am serious. The dorm was haunted. Most specifically, I feel like it was the area I lived in that had the most activity. The ghost seemed to particularly like my room. I mean, I can understand that on some level. My room was probably one of the cleanest and I did not go on alcohol and drug binges. Also, my room may have been unsafe and the ghost wanted to warn me. I just didn't realize it at the time until the ghost visited my room more than once.

Since the dorm was so old, the wiring was not too great in the place. As a matter of fact, it was not unusual for a small fire to break out due to poor electrical wiring. I can remember standing out on the sidewalk more than once watching the firefighters put out fires in the dorm. It was a little unsettling.

I used to plug pretty much all of my electronics in the same wall in the dorm. I would plug them in and come back, and the plugs would be out of the sockets. One time, I plugged my hair dryer into a socket on that wall, sat down the dryer, walked across the room and came back, and lo and behold - the dryer was unplugged on its own. There was no way it could have come out on its own. I knew then that something was up.

Occasionally, I would come in and find something had moved on its own. There was no explanation for any of it since I used to lock my door at all times. Trust me, if you'd lived in that dorm, you would know why I kept it locked even when I went down the hall to the bathroom. Since no one else had access to the room, it used to make me nervous to find things different than the way I left them. It made me think I was either going crazy or I had an ghost roommate.

Finally, I started to notice my computer was turning off by itself and the mini-fridge was having issues running. I realized the wiring must have been an issue for those sockets on that side of the room. I decided to move everything around (which was certainly a chore since it was also the smallest room ever) and switched most of the electronics to the other side of the dorm room. After that, I did not have any problems with items being unplugged on their own anymore.

After having the strange experiences, some of my friends were nervous about the dorm room. I, however, thought the ghost was only trying to save me and I felt comfortable knowing the ghost was there. In subtle ways, I knew the ghost was still there. One time, I even saw a shadow person in the bathroom. In a dorm like that, it was nice to have someone or something watching over all of us. Even if my friends did not understand, I actually became rather fond of "my ghost."

One time, my friend left a pretty lengthy message on my voicemail. This was back before everyone had cell phones, so people used the on-campus voicemail and phone system in their dorm rooms. I listened to my friend's message and when she ended the message, she said, "bye" at the end. Another female voice answered her back with, "good bye." I called my friend to find out if she was messing around with the phone and if someone could have said something else on the message with her. Naturally, this was not the case and she was upset. I tried to insist the ghost simply liked her and wanted to communicate. She did not see it that way. I had one of my dormmates from across the hall listen to the message, and she agreed that the voice was totally not normal on the message and exclaimed, "It's a ghost!" At least it wasn't just me who believed anymore.

Years later, I look back at that experience and still feel a sense of comfort. I considered the ghost my friend. I am sad if she never crossed over to where she belongs. However, I am pleased that she is probably still helping others.

It was a crappy dorm, but she was actually the one thing that made the place tolerable. I still wonder who she was and the real story behind her haunting. Maybe I will never know. Colleges tend to cover up on-campus deaths whenever possible. But maybe someday I will find out. Maybe I will turn on the TV one day and a paranormal investigation group will be right there. I sure hope so.

Copyright ©2011 (with additional info added 2012) Jeannieinabottle